To save yourself from the restore partition:

Repartition your disk using fdisk or some other 3rd party app.  Delete all the partitions including the restore partition, recreate he C partition, then reinstall Windows.

How am I going to reinstall Windows without an XP disc Zoomba? They didn't include a XP disc hence the reason I need to use the restore partition if and when I need to do a clean install.   

If you, or anyone wants to delete the restore partition, make sure you have all the necessary disks. My Dell, for example, has the XP Pro disc, but it's not the regular, out of the Microsoft box, disc. OS and application restore discs only work when you keep the restore partition. No partition, no OS.

How am I going to reinstall Windows without an XP disc Zoomba?

  

Might need a trip to the store.  Also, Microsoft will give you free cd's if you have the part number, name, and serial number.

Gee Kona - hope you didnt install the AOL disk...AOL refuses to uninstall. Believe me I've tried before. I just had this discussion with a friend the other day . They ended up taking the computer to a puter repairman to have them removed aol. They were able to remove it.

Making a note to myself - next computer : will not purchase unless the store removes AOL and nortons off it first.

With Dell laptops there is a system setting which will allow to burn an "XP" disk. I'm not sure about your Toshiba though.

Besides that, if you have a valid Microsoft key, you can use any XP cd.

..AOL refuses to uninstall.

Aren't I lucky, then, that I wasn't tempted to install the 'free' AOL stuff that came on a disc with my new Soundblaster card....sounds like it's really bad news.

You'd think, given the multitude of complaints regarding pre-packaged software that nobody wants, that Dell, HP and others would discontinue loading it into their systems. It seems, however, they're still not listening.

A friend recently bought a Compaq PC that was bloated with all sorts of crap, including spyware in the MySearch toolbar. Using a de-crapifier just broke the whole thing...and being there was no installation disc, I got her to obtain a copy of XP from MS for around $15 AU and we reformatted it using that...problem solved.

Personally, I would never purchase a factory built machine, not only because they come with a whole load of crap I don't want or need, but also that they're limited and leave little or no room for expansion or upgrades. My custom built machine is so much more versatile and completely interchangable/upgradable. For mine, it's the only way to go.

Also, Microsoft will give you free cd's if you have the part number, name, and serial number.

Meowy, how do I do that? Is it on the MS website?

I have the drivers disk from Dell, but it would be nice to be able to get rid of those partitions (btw, Dell has 2 partitions, one is the recovery partition and the other is a partition used to boot directly into MediaDirect).

Would kind of like to keep that MediaDirect goodie though. Hmmmm.